Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy conceded that his team's defence must improve for their final four MLS games should they want to qualify for the playoffs.

The Crew were leapfrogged by New York City FC in midweek after falling to a 3-2 defeat, with Julian Fernandez's goal in second-half stoppage time doing the damage.

That result represented the Crew's third loss in their last seven league games, though it is their defence that is causing Nancy several headaches.

Indeed, with four games remaining in the regular season, Columbus have conceded 46 goals, matching their total from 2023 and surpassing 2024's total by six.

"Again, we have to accept the reality," Nancy said. "This is because we don't do certain things well enough. We are going to have to do it better, to play better for 90 minutes.

"We conceded three goals – one on the set piece and two because we lost the ball and the defensive transition. This is not like we were outnumbered.

"We had numbers. We got punished, and this is the reality at this moment."

Crew midfielder Darlington Nagbe echoed the thoughts of his boss, saying: "We need to be better at it [defending].

"We want to put it all together, especially at this point of the season. We want to attack well and defend well, not one or the other.

"But I think, it’s just up to us on the field, individually, to make plays in certain moments in the games."

The Crew will be hoping to bounce back on home soil against Toronto FC this weekend, who saw their hopes of reaching the postseason ended last time out.

Luca Langoni's late equaliser for the New England Revolution compounded Robin Fraser's side to a fifth consecutive draw, a run that has seen several improved displays.  

Toronto have now failed to qualify for the playoffs for the last four seasons, with Fraser expressing his sympathy for his squad after their upturn in performances.

"At the end of the day, I'm disappointed for them. I'm not disappointed in them," Fraser said of his players. "I sound like a broken record week after week talking to them.

"I want them to feel the reward of their work. It's difficult to watch them put in a shift as they have really for maybe two months now.

"The work has been incredible, incredibly cohesive and very much as a team. But when they don't get the three points, they don't feel the reward of all their hard work."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Columbus Crew – Wessam Abou Ali

Abou Ali has scored a goal in each of his last two matches, contributing to three goals in that time (two goals, one assist).

He is the third Crew player to score in consecutive MLS matches this season (after Diego Rossi twice and Jacen Russell-Rowe), but no Columbus player has done so in three straight games in 2025.

Toronto FC – Theo Corbeanu

Corbeanu scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the draw with New England, and Fraser will be hopeful his top scorer is on target again here.

Indeed, Toronto are unbeaten in the five MLS matches in which Corbeanu has scored this season (W3 D2).

MATCH PREDICTION: COLUMBUS CREW WIN

Columbus are unbeaten in their last six regular-season home games against Toronto (W4 D2), scoring multiple goals in each of the six. In MLS's post-shootout era, that is tied for the Crew's longest run of multi-goal home games against any team.

Their last two matches, however, have been a 5-4 win over Atlanta United followed by a 3-2 loss to NYCFC. That is tied for the most combined goals in a span of two regular-season matches for the Crew, as they also had 14 combined between August and September 2011.

Toronto, meanwhile, are the second team in MLS history to draw five straight league matches while also not scoring more than one goal in any of the matches (FC Dallas – five in 2023).

The MLS record for consecutive draws is six, held by the Chicago Fire (2014), Colorado Rapids (2011) and the San Jose Earthquakes (2004-05).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Columbus Crew – 68.2%

Draw – 17.6%

Toronto FC – 14.2%